 March 2004
American Friends Service Committee Peacework Magazine Sara Burke, Managing Editor Sam Diener, Editor Pat Farren, Founding Editor 2161 Massachusetts Ave. Telephone number: Fax number:
pwork@igc.org Peacework has been published monthly since 1972, intended to serve as a source of dependable information to those who strive for peace and justice and are committed to furthering the nonviolent social change necessary to achieve them. Rooted in Quaker values and informed by AFSC experience and initiatives, Peacework offers a forum for organizers, fostering coalition-building and teaching the methods and strategies that work in the global and local community. Peacework seeks to serve as an incubator for social transformation, introducing a younger generation to a deeper analysis of problems and issues, reminding and re-inspiring long-term activists, encouraging the generations to listen to each other, and creating space for the voices of the disenfranchised. Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC. |
Violence Against Women: Ten Reports From a posting by Carin Benninger-Bude and Joanna Bourke-Martignoni; for more information, visit www.omct.org The Violence Agains Women Programme of the World Organization against Torture (OMCT) has submitted ten alternative country reports to the five "mainstream" human rights treaty bodies on: Croatia, the Czech Republic, Moldova, Poland, Spain, Sudan, Togo, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, and Yemen. Besides being the victims of violence perpetrated by state agents and armed groups, women are frequently victims of physical and psychological violence within the domestic sphere and within the community. This violence at the hands of private individuals may include domestic violence, crimes committed in the name of honor, female genital mutilation, rape and sexual assault, and trafficking into forced prostitution or forced labor. The reports show that while there are some encouraging signs of progress in the development and implementation of new legislation and procedures with respect to violence against women, states are overwhelmingly failing to uphold their international and national obligations to women. Across the board, these OMCT reports found that the vast majority of violence against women takes place within the family. For example, information from the Croatia report reveals that as much as 98% of all violence against women is family violence. The report on the Czech Republic notes that spouses or partners are responsible for 51% of all rapes in that country. In Moldova, one study asserts that 22% of all the women interviewed reported having been a victim of abuse by their husband or partner, while in Poland, researchers have concluded that as many as 1 in 6 women are victims of domestic violence. While more states are beginning to develop laws against domestic violence, the problem remains grave in most countries. Lack of awareness-raising, which results in police and judicial personnel who are ill equipped to handle domestic violence complaints and a continued culture of silence surrounding the crime, perpetuates this form of violence against women and hinders its eradication. In the ten reports, OMCT also expresses considerable concern about the prevalence of trafficking in women and the failure of many states to enact specific legislation to address this form of violence against women. For example, there is no comprehensive legislation to prosecute traffickers in Croatia, Uzbekistan, Sudan, or Venezuela. In Poland, it is estimated that as many as 10,000 women and girls are trafficked out to foreign countries every year and 60% of the prostitutes in Poland are suspected of being trafficking victims. The OMCT report on Togo notes that trafficking in children for domestic servitude is a growing problem. Recognizing the importance of raising awareness about violence against women in all of its forms, the OMCT country reports compiled in this publication serve as important documentation of the widespread and pervasive nature of violence against women in the family, in the community, and at the hands of state agents.
On International Women's Day, March 8, 2004, Amnesty Interrnational
is also launching a new campaign for women's human rights. See
www.amnesty.org. Katherine Gun, Leaker of Conscience, Cleared As reported in Peacework last month, Katherine Gun was an English translator working for GCHQ, the British intelligence agency. She leaked a memo containing information that the US, and possibly the US and Great Britain together, were electronically eavesdropping on UN Security Council diplomats in an attempt to get information that could sway their votes on the Iraq war resolution. As a result of her leak, she was fired from her job, and faced prosecution under England's draconian Official Secrets Act. On Wednesday, February 25, 2004, Katherine Gun entered a "Not Guilty," plea, at which point, according to the BBC, the Prosecutor informed the Judge that all charges had been dropped. The prosecution did not explain their reasoning, but an international campaign on Ms. Gun's behalf was embarrassing the Labor government, and a trial might have brought even more attention to the Government's crimes.
Ms. Gun told the BBC that she leaked the memo in an attempt to
stop the war. "I'm just baffled in the 21st century we as
human beings are still dropping bombs on each other as a means
to resolve issues," she said. 
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